


Samwell Performing Arts

by times_have_changed



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Trans Bitty, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 03:21:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7417654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/times_have_changed/pseuds/times_have_changed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peforming Arts AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Practice Rooms

Standing outside the slightly dilapidated Performing Arts Haus, Suzanne Bittle hugged her son goodbye, blinking back tears. Eric had equally fond feelings for his mother, but right now, he needed to not worry about the impending homesickness. What he did need to do was go back to his new room and plan out his day. He plopped down on his navy blue constellation bedspread, glanced up at the larger-than-life Audra McDonald poster for reassurance, and unfolded the Samwell 2013 Orientation Guide to examine the schedule. Breakfast - he had already done that before his mom left. There were brown bag lunches available for pickup at the dining hall starting at 11 - excellent.

He scanned the booklet for the event that he had been anticipating the most - auditions for the fall musical, Newsies! 1:00-3:00 p.m. If he ate quickly, he would have a few hours to find the practice rooms for some final, last-minute audition prep. True, an older student had shown him to the music department earlier that week, but it wasn’t just any old junior, it was Jack Zimmermann. His dark brown bangs that kept falling into his eyes had Eric a little bit distracted, as did his habit of gently flicking them back behind his ear. His appeal wasn’t just his looks, although he was muscular and tall, and it wasn’t just Eric who was in awe of Zimmerman. No, Jack was almost as much of a legend as his father. Word had it that he had been on track to follow his father’s footsteps and become a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet before –– well, before coming to Samwell. So, Eric had honestly kind of forgotten where the practice rooms were.

He picked up his bagged lunch and set off for the music department, which, as it turned out, was not too difficult to find when traveling alone. Not wanting to break any rules, he quickly ate his sandwich in the designated space, the music department’s plush-filled green room. After three or four tries, he found a room with a more-or-less in tune piano. He rested his head against the baby grand’s sturdy music stand and sighed. He didn’t have time to go back on the audition song he had chosen. "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" it would be. What key should he select before he printed the accompaniment? E minor would have to do. Sure, the lowest notes weren’t super strong when he had to sustain them, but he could hit them most of the time now.

_Here they sang about tomorrow…_

_....and tomorrow never came._

(Deep catch breath) But tomorrow _would_ come. And by then he would probably have heard about callbacks.


	2. Auditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bitty's audition goes in several unexpected directions

Eric walks over to the Samwell Performing Arts Center and shakily climbs the flight of stairs to Room 207. A short girl with a fresh pixie cut stands at the top of the stairs with a clipboard. She intercepts Eric as soon as he sets foot on the second floor and leads him into an eclectically purposed green room that is lined with benches, on which a mix of terrified freshmen and slightly less nervous older students wait for their time slots to arrive. A few more confident kids are using the ballet barres to stretch or are plunking out scales on the dilapidated baby grand for last-minute vocal warm-ups. The pixie cut girl looks like she is in charge in a kind, but no-nonsense way. She speaks, and her voice is louder than he expects from someone her size. 

“Hi, I’m –– well, if you see me in class, I’m Larissa. Are you here to audition for Newsies?”

“Yes! I hope I’m not too late to get a slot––”

“Nope, just give me your name and class year.” 

“Eric Bittle. Class of 2017.”

“Oh, you’re a Frog, welcome! Just have a seat, fill out this form, and we’ll call you in for your audition in a few minutes.”

Eric speeds through the questions, after all, they are predictable –– his name, school email (ebittle@samwell.edu), class year, the song he would be singing for them, and so on. When he gets to the question about pronouns, he smiles in appreciation, writing “he/him” in careful letters. He soon reaches the end of the form and gazes about, sizing up his competitors. Three freshman girls that look familiar from orientation are gathered around the piano, singing vocal warm-ups in tight harmony. They sound really good, but there are only two roles for women in this show, and Eric figures they’ll both go to older students. 

A blur of motion in the corner catches his eye, and who could it be but Jack Zimmermann again, back to distract. He is making flawless turns, they are truly textbook-worthy pirouettes. Every time, his head is last thing to turn, as it should be. But beyond that, each time he turns, his hair flips, and his bangs are the very last thing to turn. The combination of the bang flips and Jack’s tight leggings makes Eric flustered for some reason, but before he has time to dwell further on the matter, the door swings open, and Laura, was it? –– no, Larissa, sticks her head out to beckon him into Room 207. There is a table against one wall, behind which a few twenty-somethings, probably the director and the choreographer, sit with their pens and notebooks at the ready. Larissa slips into the vacant seat and shuffles the papers on her clipboard. 

A muscular boy is seated in the corner of the room. Even though his long legs are obfuscated by the upright piano in front of him, it is clear that the guy is very tall by how far his head protrudes over the lid of the piano. Eric reckons that if the guy stood up, he would tower nearly a foot over him. From the whispers of the panel in front of him, he gathers that Larissa is known as “Lardo” by the theatre kids, and that she’s the stage manager. The director introduces himself as B. Knight, but before Eric has a chance to ask what the "B" stands for, he quickly explains that all the theatre kids have nicknames and his is “Shitty.” 

Shitty, however strange of a name that is, tells Eric to give his music to Holster, the guy behind the piano, who turns out to also be the music director. Eric hands the sheet music to Holster, who spreads the four pages of “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” across the music stand. Holster asks whether he intends to sing in the written key, and Eric freezes for a minute, weighing his options. He crosses behind the piano and whispers something to Holster, who assures him that it makes no difference to him what key he plays it in, and promises him that absolute vocal range will not be the largest factor in casting. As the music director, Holster will happily arrange and transpose songs, therefore, the number of octaves a given cast member can sing comfortably matters more than which octaves those are.   
Eric bites his lip, thinking, then finally releases a sigh.

“F# minor would be perfect, if you’re sure.”

He steps back in front of the production team, gives a nod to Holster, and the heart wrenching introduction begins. The key change does wonders, that one whole step makes a whole world of difference for Eric's voice. For once, his audition actually surpasses his performance in voice lessons or in front of the mirror in those elusive practice rooms. All three of the people behind the table are still scribbling away when he finishes. Lardo looks up from her clipboard for long enough to thank and dismiss him with a polite, but firm, “Expect an email by tonight one way or the other.” 

Eric exits, feeling hopeful enough to wonder what nickname the Samwell theatre kids will give him if he is cast.


	3. Callbacks

"You've taken ballet before, haven't you?" A friendly voice interrupts Eric's meandering thoughts and he sloshes water all down the front of his shirt. He turns around. Of _course_ it's Jack Zimmerman. 

"Uh, yeah, I –" _Deeper_ , he thinks. He takes a breath and starts over. "Yes, I was part of a studio for a few years."  Pink tulle and the unrepenting bristles of the blush brush against his scrunched-up face are hardly among his fondest memories. 

Jack doesn't seem to notice Eric's discomfort. "Yeah, 'cause I saw what happened with that turn, but I wanted you to know that your footwork is really solid."

_Lord_. Why did Jack Zimmerman of all people have to see him trip on that turn? He was in the back line, he didn't think anyone had noticed. He starts to formulate a reply, but Jack just reaches down, ruffles Eric's hair, and walks away before he can even stammer out a "thanks." Eric shakes his head, smiling. People only started playing with his hair when he got his first major haircut, and even though that was a few years ago, it never fails to make him grin. 

Callbacks have been going on for a few hours now, and Eric's back is starting to hurt, never mind the sore muscles from all the dancing. Oh, well. The dancing portion is over now, and it's time to read sides. Even though a little part of him was still hoping to be cast as Davey Jacobs, he's reasonably happy when he's asked to read for Spot Conlon. After another water break, Lardo calls his name, along with those of several others, and he is dismissed. Twenty-four more hours of waiting, probably. 

 

 

 

 


	4. Cast List

"I hope I get it...I really hope I get it. How many people does he need? How many boys, how many gi-" Eric hit the "next" button on Spotify. Listening to other people stress about casting was the last thing he needed right now, even if they _were_ fictional characters. _A Chorus Line always_ seemed almost too realistic – he supposed that was one of the reasons he liked the show so much. "Breathe" from _In the Heights_ was the next song in the queue - a much better selection for his current situation. He knew he should be doing his homework, but instead, he was sprawled out on top of his comforter, procrastinating by looking at his favorite recipe blogs and scrolling Tumblr. He paused to reblog a gifset of a baby goat taking its first shaky steps before collapsing to the ground, tagging it #me leaving callbacks yesterday.

Eric refreshed his email for what must have been the twenty-seventh time so far that morning.  _Just breathe._ There it was, at the top of his inbox, with the subject line "Cast List." He placed Señor Bunny in his lap, then opened the email tentatively, wavering in indecision between assuring himself he'd be thrilled with any ensemble role and still holding out hope for his dream role of Davey Jacobs. He scanned the beginning of the email, "Thank you all so much for taking time out of your busy lives to audition for this year's fall production." The email was thoughtfully crafted, and he would take the time to read it later regardless of whether he had been cast. His eyes darted down to the list of names and roles. Predictably, Jack Zimmermann would be playing Jack Kelly. He was pleased to see that one of the freshmen he had met during orientation had been cast as Katherine Plumber.

Eric's heart sank when he saw that the name listed for the role of Davey was not his own, but rather, Justin Oluransi, whose name he recognized from a panel of students who had gotten involved with scientific research during their first year at Samwell. He continued to work his way down the list, frowning when he didn't find his name next to one of the more notable ensemble roles. Finally, about three-quarters of the way through the cast list he saw his name. "Les Jacobs: Eric Bittle."  He grimaced. Les Jacobs was Davey's little brother and...a ten-year-old. He had figured they would use a kid from the elementary school that was affiliated with the college and just across the street. Apparently not, now that they had him. He wasn't even that short, but he supposed that the guy who had been on the research panel would tower over most of the cast. Eric kicked at the carpet a bit, still feeling disgruntled. However, this was his first role as a boy that wasn't in a show where they were doing gender-swapped casting, so that had to count for something, right?


End file.
